Attempting to explore the Eastern Front thematically proves misjudged, while persistent unit stupidity is wearing thin after seven years and four games. Counteracting that are the core mechanics, which are as enjoyable as ever, and there are smart new missions to test series veterans. It’s not a glorious revolution, then, but COH2 is a solid continuation of the finest WWII RTS around.

Just Cause 2 can hardly be called an average game. It's a good one undermined by a selection of mediocre elements, and it's all the more frustrating this time around because Avalanche shows us glimpses of just how much fun two weeks on holiday with Rico should be. [Apr 2010, p.96]

The campaign prevents Battlefield 6 from hitting all of its marks. [Issue#417, p.96]

This is a rich, interesting design, then, but one whose capacity for long-term competitive play is questionable.

A brilliant fighting game for newcomers, and a wonderful one for genre fans, that somehow still manages to feel like a disappointment for so comprehensively failing to bring its two demographics together. [Apr 2018, p.112]

As the game strays further from this core fantasy, its charms are dulled. Nioh 2 is a rather conservative sequel. [Issue#346, p.96]

Trace Memory is a sound and striking dissection and rebuilding of the adventure game, one that wraps itself well around the specs and strengths of the DS, but one that isn’t the sum of its parts. But it is a worthy and touching whole, nonetheless. [Aug 2005, p.96]

An exercise in turning the volume up to maximum and keeping it there. The sound it emits is powerful, but with its constant presence can become mere noise. PlatinumGames has mastered the way of the ninja as a furious mass-death machine, yet somehow Ninja Gaiden 4 isn't a true killer. [Issue#417, p.100]

Yes, in places, it's a little too familiar, sometimes ungainly and unsure of itself. Yet it's also big-hearted and likeable, with a hero that, even at the peak of his powers, remains endearingly human. By the time the credits roll, you might be convinced that Parker should extend his vacation. [Issue#353, p.104]

The antithesis of the arcade fix and, despite the fact that this stance is unfashionable at the moment, comes highly recommended, not least because it offers a different view of gaming's future. [May 2003, p.97]

What was once a pleasing console compromise now seems overly restrictive post-"Knights of the Old Republic." Despite hints of moral choices and a dusting of side-quests, it soon boils down to a straight slog, mashing the 'A' button as you wander through prettily rendered - if largely linear - dungeons. [Feb 2004, p.100]

It's a game that celebrates the idea of two disparate beings finding a shared language and using it to overcome their problems; in these troubled times, such moments are powerful indeed. [Apr 2018, p.114]

As a place, Los Angeles simply isn't as much fun as Liberty or Vice. Too much of this silicon LA exists simply because the designers wanted to show that it could be done rather than because it serves any gameplay purpose. [Christmas 2003, p.107]

Liberation's narrative is rather picaresque, while the less said about its asynchronous multiplayer mode, the better. Yet it avoids the console game's occasional longueurs to offer something altogether more compact and focused. It may not be a true Assassin's Creed experience on a handheld, then, but this sensibly streamlined game is a fine companion piece.

As a launch title, Resistance proves itself to be a crisp and powerful piece of software, but not quite as robust a videogame. [Jan 2007, p.68]

With it’s limited range of costumes (broadened with lazy palette swaps) and unambitious Tag and Team battles, DOA4 remains as familiar as the mild disappointment it delivers. [Feb 2006, p.84]

In remaining more traditional, it fails to provide the kind of innovation that might have made it essential - something that, invariably, Nintendoes. [Issue#417, p.110]

Blackbar tells a satisfying dystopian short story, one that invites you to engage directly with its censorship theme.

This is no true sequel, nor is there the intent or transformative change to suggest that it could've been. The result, however, is no less appreciated – lavish, generous and a step to the left of the standard follow-up. [March 2005, p.88]

Mundaun is both a densely imagined horror game and a story about a young man getting back in tune with the place of his birth. The mountain might be an object of terror, but it's also one of nostalgia. It's something you learn to live with. [Issue#357, p.116]

This is easily the better sequel, a firm improvement on "Warrior Within." So why the long face? For the simple and saddest reason of all: ennui. [Christmas 2005, p.100]

It’s through the internet, however, that Buzz! refreshes its familiar format; strengths and weaknesses alike. [Aug 2008, p.99]

A wonderfully honest game that points out how important it is to acknowledge the hole, but reminds us that, at the end of the day, it's what's - and who's - around it that counts. [Nov 2018, p.121]

Global Storm feels like the true heir to the Conflict: Desert Storm games in more than just surname, and remains a worthy war effort, despite there being other games that may do it grander or deeper. [Nov 2005, p.102]

Its magpie picking of influences leaves it with too little personality of its own, and comparisons with its sources are often unflattering. Still, it boasts scale, action and variety that make it a welcome addition to PS3's multiplayer roster.

Classes and skills are well-balanced, and even though you’ll cycle through the small map selection quickly, they offer enough possibilities to stave off fatigue until Ubisoft adds more arenas. With more modes and maps, Phantoms would be a formidable offering, but it’s worth dipping into until then.

Lacks the genuine desire for change that the genre so desperately needs. [Aug 2008, p.95]

For every moment of epiphany, wide-eyed with an awareness of a resolution, there's an equal number of blunderingly hapless wins, falling or jumping accidentally to new and advantageous positions. [June 2008, p.89]